


What Is A Wedding Without A Family Argument?

by the_sky_is_forever



Category: Supernatural
Genre: A Bit of Fluff, Arguments, Destiel - Freeform, Hunters & Hunting, Kissing, M/M, Married Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sabriel - Freeform, Trickster Gabriel, Wedding, a bit of angst, if they're dead in canon they're probably not dead in this fic, mentions of sex but it's not actually written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-02-03 10:37:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1741646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_sky_is_forever/pseuds/the_sky_is_forever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The wedding of Dean and Castiel goes off without a hitch so it's not really a surprise when their first hunt as a married couple doesn't go quite as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Is A Wedding Without A Family Argument?

Dean sat on the lumpy motel bed. His jacket lay on the floor, next to his boots that he had kicked off at some point, and his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows. Hair a mess, eyes tired, he was a wreck. Cas had been gone for over a month now and Dean was missing him. A lot.

"Where are you Cas?" Dean whispered, his voice almost breaking on the angel’s name.

About half an hour earlier Sam had gone out to some bar, leaving Dean alone with his thoughts and sad bitterness. Dean had tried to distract himself with some TV, he’d tried every channel this place had to offer (not that there were many), but it hadn't worked.

Dean lifted his hand up to his shoulder and touched the spot where Cas had left his handprint, dragging Dean out of Hell. It still stung a little when he touched it but the faint pain was so familiar is was more of a comfort now and a reminder what both he and Cas went through to get to where they are now. Wherever Cas is now. His fingers traced the familiar outline of the print. He glanced across at the clock. 10 PM. Time seemed to drag. It felt to Dean as if the world knew that he was waiting for something – _someone_ – and was determined to screw with him.

Dean shut his eyes tight and prayed Cas' name with all his might. Throwing his thoughts out desperately. Praying was never something he was very good at, it wasn’t really something you could be taught. Sam told him that it was all about feeling and, well, in this case, Dean had a lot of feeling to give. “Where are you Cas?” He asked for what felt like the millionth time, “Come back to me.”

"Hello, Dean."

Dean's eyes flew open. Finally.

"CAS!" He yelled ecstatically, throwing his arms around his angel. "Where have you been you son of a bitch?" The relief was evident in Dean’s voice and Cas’ heart felt warm, if slightly regretful that he had had to leave for so long.

Cas chuckled. "You realise when you call me that you are calling God, to use your crude language, a 'bitch'?"

Dean winked at him. "Well, maybe he is."

Cas laughed again before kissing his hunter briefly. He pulled away and looked at Dean, taking in the full sight, “I’m so sorry, Dean. I never meant to leave for so long.” It felt important to him that Dean knew.

"I've missed you, Cas." Dean said, his eyes so full of love for Cas.

"And I you." Cas replied solemnly.

They smiled at each other fondly for a second before Dean put his forehead on Cas’ shoulder and pressed himself into Cas’ body, yearning to be as close as he could. They stood there wrapped in each other’s arms for a while until the door banged open. They jumped apart, startled, but Dean managed to grab hold of Cas' tie, preventing him from just vanishing. Dean had only just got him back; he wasn’t letting go for a long time.

"You guys are so cute." Sam teased from the doorway, winking at his older brother, clearly more than a little tipsy. Dean rolled his eyes and looked back at Cas who was determinedly studying his shoes, flushing red. Dean couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his all-powerful angel blushing.

"Come on Sam, get outta here." Dean said. "Go back to the bar; find someone to hook up with if you must. Don’t bring them back here though." He added as an afterthought with a glance at Cas.

"Fine..." Sam sighed. "I'll get out the way of you and your adorable, angelic boyfriend." He walked back to the door, dragging his feet. When he reached the door he winked at them both. "Have fun." He said suggestively, causing Cas to blush again.

"Leave. Now." Dean repeated, irritated. Sam rolled his eyes and left, the door slamming shut behind him.

Dean turned to Cas.

"Well, what do you want to do now?"

 

*

 

Hours later, Dean and Cas lay side by side in the uncomfortable motel bed. Their hands were linked, legs intertwining underneath the sheets, breaths warm against each other. "Dean,” Cas murmured against the hunters skin, “I've been thinking."

"Hmm?" Dean mumbled back, too tired to form a real sentence.

"Well," Cas began falteringly. He shifted so that he was looking up at Dean directly, "I-uh, you do love me right?"

Dean laughed at that. "Of course I do." He answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which, to be fair, it was.

"Well, in that case, I've been thinking that we should get married."

Dean sat up straight. Cas, who had been curled into his chest was forced to move quickly and attempt to gain his balance so that he wouldn’t be thrown off the bed.

"Where the Hell did _that_ come from?” Dean exclaimed.

Cas’ forehead creased in confusion, his head tilting to the side. The innocence of his appearance made Dean’s insides melt slightly. "That's what people do when they are in love right?" Cas asked, seeking confirmation.

"Well, uh, yeah, normally... But we're not exactly the most normal couple in the world Cas." Dean spluttered. Cas looked hurt, making Dean feel guilty. He reached over and pulled the angel into a hug. "I love you Cas, I really do but don't you think that it would be a bit complicated?"

"What do you mean?" Cas asked, pulling out of the embrace.

"Well, you're an angel for one. And besides, your vessel. Isn't he already married?" Dean said calmly, pointing out just a few of the flaws.

"Jimmy's dead Dean. It's just me." Cas informed him.

"Even so, won't the government know his face?" Dean replied.

"Please, Dean..." Cas whispered. "Please..."

Dean sighed. "I don't know Cas...” He bit his lip, “What’s wrong with the way things are?”

Cas sighed. Getting up he walked around the bed to the side where Dean was sat. Steeling his nerves, he sank down onto one knee in front of Dean.

Dean’s jaw dropped open and he would swear that his heart was about to fall out of his mouth.

"Dean Winchester,” Cas said, softly, charmingly, “Will you _please_ do me the honour of marrying me?" He looked up at Dean, face earnest, eyes hopeful.

Dean let out a choked breath and pulled Cas off the floor. Dragging him in for a gentle kiss Dean knew what his decision was. Despite all of his misgivings about this, there was really only one answer.

"Yeah all right." He whispered. Cas pulled away to look at Dean

"Really?" He asked, a look of complete joy on his face.

Dean grinned. "Yeah, really." He confirmed. Dean pressed his lips against Cas' again. "Wait," Dean said pulling away. "Does this make me God's son-in-law?" His eyes widened in horror.

Cas laughed, an elated, joyful sound. "You know what? I think it does." He grinned at Dean. "You know, it also makes you Satan's brother-in-law." Dean laughed loudly.

"What a perfect family!" He exclaimed sarcastically before pulling Cas back into the kiss and sinking back onto the bed.

"I love you." Cas mumbled between kisses.

"I love you too, little angel." Dean murmured. They climbed back under the covers of the bed, ignoring the slightly sticky feel to them, and relaxed, safe in each other’s arms. Just before he dropped off to sleep Dean mumbled something else quietly.

“What was that?” Cas asked.

“I said, ‘Now you’ve gotta get me a ring’.” Dean repeated, an idiotic smile on his face.

Cas just laughed.

 

*

 

Party in full swing, the guests that they had invited (okay, there weren’t many) milled around. "Congrats, sweetie." Ellen said giving Dean a big hug. She looked beautiful, her hair was pulled up into an elegant knot at the back of her head (Dean had a sneaking suspicion that Jo had something to do with it) and she was wearing a simple but flattering blue V-neck dress. Jo was somewhere about, Dean had seen her already. Ellen’s daughter was also looking stunning tonight. Like her mother, Jo was a natural beauty and her curled hair and her grey cocktail dress showed this off wonderfully. Vaguely Dean wondered when he had started paying attention to things like this – he suspected that it might have something to do with the wedding planning.

 Dean was wearing a black suit and a black pencil tie and he was looking particularly good. Cas was stood a little way away in a similar black suit to Dean but he had insisted on keeping his ordinary blue tie. If Dean was honest he probably would have come to the wedding in jeans if Cas hadn’t been very firm about it however now that he’s here, Dean is glad that Cas did make him dress nicely.

Everyone they knew was out here in this field and Dean and Cas were slowly working their way around thanking people for coming and giving hugs to everyone. It was slow work but enjoyable. There were lots of people, hunters mainly, that Dean hadn’t seen for a very long time; a few were friends of Bobby and John so Dean hadn’t seen them since he was a child.

Dean’s eyes sought Cas in the midst of a conversation with Ellen and Dean grinned at him. Cas, seeing Dean’s smile, excused himself from the guest he was talking to – a woman named Teresa whom he had never met before but seemed to be very nice – and walked over. Putting his arm around Dean he kissed his husband; there was a funny thought if there ever was one.  

"Hello Castiel." Ellen said, smiling at the display of affection.

"Hello Ellen." Cas grinned in return, he separated himself from Dean and offered his hand to the woman. "I've not had the pleasure before."

She laughed, delightedly and threw her arms around him, drawing him into a hug, "Welcome to the family.”

Cas, a little surprised at the enthusiasm, wrapped his arms around her and smiled, "Thank you Ellen." Cas said.

She pulled back, her eyes crinkled at the edges with a smile, "Well, we've got a queue forming so I'll let you two get back to mingling." She turned and walked off in the direction of her daughter, who seemed, oddly, to be getting very close to Anna over by the food table. Now that was a friendship that both Dean and Cas would never have predicted.  

Soon the sun began to set, dusk falling over them all, and everyone helped to clear some things away. Ellen and Jo started handing out lanterns for people to hang up on the wire around the middle of the field, forming a dance floor of sorts. Dean went and drove the Impala over and opened all the doors and windows and began blasting music out. A little while later pretty much everyone was dancing. Angels and humans together. It was an unusual sight and Dean smiled, leaning up against his car. Cas came over and linked their fingers together and began to lead them away from the group

"Thank you Dean." Cas said to Dean as they wandered slowly away from the music, "You don't know what this means to me."

"Oh I think I do." Dean whispered, leaning down to kiss Cas again for possibly the thousandth time that day.

"No." Cas said pulling away. "You don't. Angels don't really get married. Ever. They don't fall in love either very often."

Dean tilted his head on its side - a habit he had, stupidly, picked up from Cas, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm probably the first angel in thousands of years to get married. And to a human too!" Cas said pulling Dean in for a hug.

Dean laughed. "Well if it means anything, it's kind of rare for a hunter to get married too. We don't stick around long enough to get to know anyone. We only really marry other hunters so count yourself lucky, angel." He teased. Cas laughed and pulled Dean towards him again kissing him.

"I love you, Cas." Dean said. His entire being felt like it could burst with all the emotion inside of him. His soul burnt bright with love for Cas.

"I love you more." Cas murmured in response.

"Not possible." Dean whispered with a small laugh.

"Where have you two idjits got to?" They looked up and back towards the party. Dean chuckled at the sight of Bobby heading over the them, a look of fond exasperation on his face, "It's time for the cake!"

"Come on then, Mr. Winchester," Dean said, turning to Cas. He loved saying that and he couldn’t get enough of how Cas had chosen to take his name. "Back to reality."

"But I don't want to go back." Cas complained, biting his lip.

"Well, we have to. Everyone has to eventually. But we have each other now. We'll make it Cas." He made the promise whole-heartedly and with that he took Cas' hand and pulled him back to the party. Back to their friends and family. As one.

 

*

 

Cas pushed the doors to the bar open and strode in. Music was playing loudly and Cas paused to listen.

_I'm an angel with a shotgun... Don't care if heaven won't take me back... Throw away my faith.. Keep you safe... Everything I have..._

He didn't recognise the song but the words that he caught made him smirk. He mind flickered to Dean. His hunter. _His husband._ That was an odd thought. But also comforting.

Cas, Dean, Sam and Bobby were working a case in Ohio. Dead men were walking around town and killing women and men that they had dated. The team suspected that witches were involved. Cas was trailing one of the dead men, hoping that the man would lead him to the witches. Dean was back at the hotel with Sam and Bobby researching the town to see if anything like this had happened before. Cas smiled at the thought that Dean was probably complaining about being stuck there while Cas got to have all the fun.

Even though Cas knew that Dean was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, the idea of him safe and out of harm’s way comforted him.

Cas walked across to the bar keeping one eye on the dead man who was now sat in the corner of the room at a table, pretending to drink a beer. Cas took a seat on a bar stool and watched the man out of the corner of his eye.

"Yep?" The bar man asked.

"Oh, um-" Cas stuttered. "Beer please." He said. The bar man rolled his eyes and pulled out a bottle from under the counter.

"Two ninety." The man said. Cas shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out what he hoped was a five dollar bill. He passed it across and grabbed his beer and took a swig. He span round on his stool under the pretence of looking around the bar. The dead man was gone.

"Son of a bitch." Cas said, in the style of his favourite hunter. His blue eyes scanned the bar, desperately looking for the dead guy. He was nowhere to be seen.

 

*

 

Dean paced back and forth in the motel room. His nerves were wrecked. So were the palms of his hands from where his nails had dug into them anxiously.

"Dean. Chill." Sam said in a bored voice, glancing up from the pile of books in front of him. "He'll be back soon. He's fine. They're just witches."

Dean turned and glared at his brother. "Shut up Sammy you are _not_ helping!" He growled. Bobby chuckled. Dean turned on him. "You too, Bobby."

The old man raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "Hey, I didn't say anything." He protested.

Dean looked away and continued pacing. "Dammit Cas." He said under his breath.

 

*

 

Cas walked quietly down the hallway in the back of the bar. His blue eyes flickered from side to side and his fingers clutched his knife tightly. Something seemed off. Not quite right. If only he knew what.

 

*

 

"Bobby none of this adds up." Sam said looking up from his laptop. Dean was across the room in a second.

"What do you mean?" He demanded.

Bobby strode across the room, taking charge. "Okay, first, Dean you need to calm down or you ain’t coming on hunts no more. Second, what doesn't add up?" He barked. Dean nodded and backed off slightly, taking a deep breath. He was worried, that's all. It was hard not to be despite how irrational he knew it was.

"Well, there hasn't been any sightings or mentions of witchcraft in this part of America in, well, ever." Sam said, talking fast. "We haven't seen a single man or woman who has been acting suspiciously either. Oh, and that, as far as we can tell, there are no connections between the victims.”

"Except for the fact that they are killing their exes." Dean supplied.

"Well what if they aren't witches?" Sam said, ignoring Deans comment.

"What else could they be, boy?" Bobby asked in a worried voice.

 

*

 

The lights flickered on and off again as Cas prowled into a room off the side of the hallway. He held a pistol in one hand and a silver blade in the other.

A man was stood in the centre of the room. Apart from him and Cas the room was completely empty. There was no wallpaper on the walls or curtains on the single window.

"Hello Cas." The man said turning to face him. It wasn't the dead man Cas had been following. And it definitely wasn't a witch.

 

*

 

"What else could it be?" Bobby yelled at Sam. "How could we get the monster wrong?"

"Hey! Don't yell at me! It wouldn't be the first time!" Sam defended himself.

"Will you two stop yelling?" Dean interrupted. "Sam. What is it then?"

Sam looked at Dean. Dean stomach dropped through the floor. That was _not_ a good look.

 

*

 

" _Gabriel_?" Cas asked. "Is that- is that _you_?" Cas was having difficulty processing the face that was clearly standing before him.

Gabriel chuckled and walked towards his younger brother. "Took you long enough." He grinned. His body language simply radiated self-confidence and his voice was filled with cockiness.

"It's been you the whole time..." Cas said with dawning comprehension. "You brought those men back?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "No, stupid, they aren't real! The men, the people they killed, this whole town in fact! I created them." He revealed with his trademark trickster grin, he was clearly proud of his set up and Cas couldn’t help but wonder why Gabriel would go to this much effort.

"But... Why?" Cas asked the arch-angel, tilting his head to one side and squinting at him.

"Has Dean told you that you look adorable when you do that?" Gabriel teased.

Cas flushed - partly because of the casual mention to his marriage and partly because Dean _had_. "Answer my question." He said firmly.

"Ah, why do people do anything?" Gabriel said lazily. "Because I was bored. And messing with you Winchesters is FUN."

 

*

 

Dean sprinted down the hallway as fast as he could. His heart pounded in his chest so hard is would have hurt if he wasn’t so distracted with finding Cas.

"CAS! WHERE ARE YOU?" He yelled, desperately.

"I'm in here, Dean!" Cas’ reply was distant but it was enough for Dean to locate him.

Dean pushed the door open violently. "Cas! It's not witches it's- oh..." He trailed off at the sight of the short archangel. "Hey, Gabriel."

Gabriel nodded to Dean, politely. "How've you been?" He asked mockingly. "Hope you didn't miss me too much."

Dean shrugged, keeping his eyes fixed on the archangel but stepping closer to Cas so that they could grasp each other’s hands and know that the other was perfectly okay.

"You know, I am quite upset that I didn't get an invite to the wedding. I thought we were close." Gabriel continued, his eyes flashing down to the newly-weds hands.

"Well, we weren't sure where to send the-" Dean started to lie.

"Oh, don't give me that. You know you could have just prayed to me." Gabriel interrupted. "You just didn't want a trickster around on your happy day."

Dean shrugged again, not feeling particularly guilty about that. "Would you?" He asked, eyebrow raised. "Anyway, that's off topic. Why are you doing this?"

"Because, like I said to my little bro here, messing with you Winchesters is a lot of fun," Gabriel said casually. He wandered around the room and sat down in an armchair that hadn't been there a moment before.

"Oh..." Dean whispered. "None of it is real..."

"Bingo!" Gabriel said crossing his legs in his armchair. "That's right. I created this whole town." He waggled his eyebrows at them and smiled.

Dean sighed and looked at the floor, trying to recover some patience. He looked back up at Gabriel. "You can't keep doing this man." Dean huffed. "We're busy. Doing real stuff. Hunting."

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I getting in the way of your hero act?" Gabriel said innocently. "Anyway, where's Sam? I like him better than you." Gabriel seemed to get distracted by the thought, and Dean grew irritated very quickly. He wandered across to Gabriel slowly. He looked down smiling and then threw his hand back and slapped Gabriel across his face as hard as he could. Gabriel spat blood out of his mouth.

"That hurt." He complained. Cas stepped in between them and Dean started to lift his hand again.

"Dean, stop." He commanded, his voice dark. "He may be messing with us but he is still my brother and an archangel. You can't just go around beating him up." Dean took a slight step back but continued to glare at the archangel, chewing on the inside of his cheek in an attempt to control himself. For Cas, not this asshole. "Gabriel," Cas continued, turning to his older brother. "You need to let us out of here."

"Hmm... Yeah, no can do," Gabriel said cheerfully, wiping his mouth.

"What? Why?" Dean asked. "I don't see any advantage of keeping us here."

"It's fun? Besides, there’s something I want to test out. You know, I _really do_ like Sam better," Gabriel mused. "So, here's the deal. There is one way out of here,”

Dean and Cas waited for him to elaborate. "And?" Dean asked, impatient. "How do we get out?"

"Put it this way... You're going to have to make a few... sacrifices," Gabriel said, ominously.

"What kind of sacrifices?" Dean asked slowly.

"All in good time my friend. Anyway, you'll be wanting to share all this with your buddies back at the motel so I'll leave you to it. Talk soon!" He gave a cheery wave and vanished.

"Dammit!" Dean cursed. Cas turned to Dean. Their expressions were practically a mirror image; frustration and slight despair.

"Let's get back to Sam and Bobby." Cas said. He reached over and touched Dean on the forehead and zapped them back to the motel.

 

*

 

Back in the motel room, Dean and Cas had explained to Sam and Bobby what had happed. This had led to a terse discussion followed by stony silence as everyone tried to come up with a plan. 

"Why's he doing this?" Dean burst out in frustration after about ten minutes. He was wound up, fingers tapping against the table repetitively.

"I'm sure it's for a reason, Dean," Cas said, but even he had a bit of doubt in his voice. Dean snorted in disbelief.

"Or maybe he's just a royal douche," He said grumpily. "Cas, there are people out there that need our help and monsters and demons that need fighting!" Cas took Deans hand and pulled him in.

"I know Dean," He said. "And that's why we need to work this out so, please, let's focus on this instead of how irritating my older brother is." Dean sighed and nodded, relaxing almost immediately with the comfort from Cas. The pair turned to look at Bobby and Sam. Sam had his head buried in a pile of books and Bobby was watching Cas and Dean with a curious look on his face.

"What?" Dean said defensively, glaring at Bobby.

"Nothing, just thinking how there was a time when you didn't believe in angels," He said smoothly, turning away. Dean grunted and let go of Cas' hand.

Sam looked up at the other three.

"What was that Gabe said about sacrifices?" He asked.

"Oh, so he's 'Gabe' now?" Dean commented, huffing.

"Shut up." Sam said, flushing slightly. Bobby muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'oh not Sam too...'

"Just that we’re going to have to make a few sacrifices to get out of here," Cas said breaking the awkward silence.

Sam looked thoughtful for a moment, then, “Do you think he’d talk to me?”

"Probably, he always liked you more than me; he said as much today," Dean said huffily.

"Well, there. It's settled. I'll call Gabe and get him to meet me." Sam decided.

"Fine. But stay safe. He is an archangel." Dean reminded Sam, quite unnecessarily.

"Dean, he said he _liked_ me. I don't think I'm in any danger. Besides, as much as you don't like him, he is a good guy. He's on our side Dean..." Sam said on his way out of the motel room. "I'll take the Impala."

Dean and Cas shared a nervous look as Sam left, both wondering whether this was really a good idea and both knowing exactly how much could go wrong.

 

*

 

Streetlights shone brightly overhead as Sam drove down the main road of the street for the ninth time that evening. "Gabe, if you can hear me, we need to talk. Do you think you could come down here for a moment?" Sam prayed aloud as he drove. "Come on, man. I've been driving for ages..."

"Well hi there, Sammy."

Sam jumped at the sudden voice next to him and swerved the car violently. Heart beating fast he pulled the car back into the centre of the road, using the thought of Dean killing him if he totalled the car as a stimulus to get his breathing back under control.

"Son of a..." He cursed under his breath.

Gabriel sniggered. "You wanted to talk," He reminded Sam, wearing a ridiculous grin on his face.

"Yeah but I didn't want a heart attack." Sam replied but he was smiling subtly at the angel so the effect was lost.

"You know, I've missed you Sam. You're so much more _cheerful_ than our brothers..." Gabriel told him, smiling too.

"I don't know about that..." Sam mused thoughtfully. Gabriel laughed.

"Okay, maybe not all the time," He admitted. "Anyway, I know why you want to talk to me. You want to get out of here."

"Yeah, and I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could just, you know, let us go?" Sam suggested, looking vaguely hopeful.

Gabriel pretended to think about it for a second, sarcastically. "Yeah, that's still a no. But, I can give you a hand, Sam."

Sam glanced away from the road and raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

Gabriel nodded. "Really."

Sam pulled the Impala up at the side of the road. "And how's that?" He asked turning in his seat to properly look at the archangel.

"Well, put it this way... I'm going to give you a set of instructions. One by one. All you have to do is follow said instructions without hesitation and you're free."

Sam sighed. "Well we know that it's not just driving out of the town." He said, frowning, thinking about how confused they had been at suddenly being back at the motel having tried to drive out of town. Gabriel chuckled. He’d been watching when that had happened and he’d been forced to sit down for a while; he was laughing so hard.

"Yeah, that's not how you get out. All you can do is do what I say."

 

"Gabriel-." Sam began threateningly.

 

"No, Sam." Gabriel interrupted. "The first instruction should be arriving at your motel any moment now. Talk soon." He clicked his fingers and disappeared. Sam groaned loudly and rested his head on the steering wheel in between his hands.

 

*

 

Sam flipped open his phone as he revved up the engine. He scrolled through the contacts and clicked on Dean's number. Dean picked up on the second dial, keen to know what had gone down.

"Dean, we're screwed." Sam said immediately, glancing at the seat next to him that was now empty.

"How screwed?" Dean asked, hating his life intensely.

"Gabriel-is-messing-with-our-heads screwed," Sam sighed.

"What?" Dean asked, confused.

"Gabe said that his first instruction is on his way. We need to do what it says without hesitation. And then the next, and the next, and the next," Sam revealed grimly.

"What does that mean?" Dean asked Sam angrily.

"If I knew what it meant we wouldn't be screwed, Dean!" Sam retaliated, every bit as angry and aggravated as his brother.

"Right. Get back here and we'll talk about it." Dean said and hung up without another word.

Sam threw his phone down on the passenger seat and let out a growl of annoyance.

 

*

 

By the time Sam had got back to the motel, Gabriel’s first ‘instruction’ had arrived. On a piece of card, pushed under the doorway to their room. Dean had yanked open the door with the intention of chasing down whoever it was but when he opened it, there was no on to be seen. That had only made Dean even more agitated than he already was much to Bobby’s displeasure.

"Find the oldest house in the town and go there." Dean read aloud. If they were honest it was a lot less complicated than they had expected… which made everyone very suspicious.

"No, that can't be it. There must be something there or... I don't know. But that _can't_ be it," Sam frowned at the piece of card.

"I agree. Gabriel must have something planned," Cas said from his seat by the table.

"It's not like we have a choice, though is it?" Bobby added sullenly. "I say we go do what this _bastard_ wants and get out of here as soon as we can." Everyone nodded in agreement, silently, but still looked fairly gloomy about the situation. Having an archangel and a trickster messing with you was not a situation that Sam and Dean had been keen to find themselves in again. "Right, Sam, you get to work on finding that damn house," Bobby ordered walking towards the door.

"What are you going to do?" Sam asked, watching him leave but already getting his laptop out of his bag.

"I'm going to get us a drink." Bobby replied, dully. It felt like a necessary thing to do in these circumstances and Dean and Sam agreed with him fully.

 

*

 

The floorboards creaked under Castiel's feet as he down the stairs into the basement. It had taken Sam a couple of hours to locate the house and for them to get there. To their surprise, it was filthy. Dust covered every surface in the building and it was clear that no one had been here for a very long time. Cas could hear Dean and the others wandering around upstairs, checking each room. Dead silence filled the entire building so any noise that the group made sounded a thousand times louder than it normally would. Cas reached the bottom of the stairs and quickly crossed the concrete floor of the basement. A small piece of paper was pinned to the far wall.

 ** _You're getting slow, brother_** was written on it in black ink. Fire sprang up around Cas in a small circle. Cas spun around. Gabriel was stood by the door smiling at him. Cas looked down at the fire and sighed.

"Hello, Gabriel," He said. "Is this necessary?" Gabriel shut the door and slid the bolt shut. Cas sighed again. "You know, I am willing to talk to you without the holy fire and a locked underground room."

"The holy fire is for you but the locked room is for your husband and his pet brother. The old guy isn't really an issue. He's losing his touch," Gabriel said wandering slowly forward, closely resembling some predatory animal.

 

*

 

Dean pushed the wooden door of the upstairs bedroom open. It creaked loudly as it opened. Dean cautiously rounded the corner, keeping his silver handgun up. It was dark inside the room; no electricity in the house and most of the windows were boarded up. He lifted his torch up and shone it round the room. Something on the far wall glistened. Dean slowly creeped across the room to examine it.

Dean breathed in, fast. His name was written in capital letters on the wall in what looked suspiciously like... blood.

Underneath his name a small piece of paper was pinned to the wall. Dean tore it free and held the torch up so he could read the black ink.

 ** _I've got your husband and it's not long till I have your brother too._** Dean barely stopped to think, just turned on his heel, dropping the piece of paper, and ran.

"CAS!" He yelled. "CAS! WHERE ARE YOU?" He ran down the hall and down the stairs, crashing into walls and tables, making a racket. "CAS! SAM! BOBBY! CAS!" He yelled. He raced round a corner and ran straight into Bobby.

"Dean! What's going on?" Bobby said. Dean pushed past him.

"I've got to find Cas!" He replied and his voice was so edgy that Bobby knew that something bad had happened. He set off running again, calling back to Bobby over his shoulder, "Check on Sam!"

 

*

 

Sam sat up, immediately realising that it had been a mistake. A burst of sharp pain shot through his head making him feel weak and tired.

"Dean?" He groaned, lifting a hand to his temple. It came away bloody. He slowly moved his head, trying not to aggravate it much more, scanning his surroundings.

He was in some sort of cage inside one of the rooms. The cage was fairly large but not enough that Sam would be able to stand.

The entire side of Sam's head was drenched in warm blood, his hair matted and sticky with the hot liquid. He shuffled across to the door of the cage and pushed his hand through a gap in the bars. He felt for the lock, trying to work out the best way to break out. He pulled his arm back through and slammed on the cage door with his feet as hard as he could. The cage shook everytime he kicked but the door refused to budge.

Sam lay back on the ground, head pounding. " _Dammit_."

 

*

 

Cas looked up at the ceiling. He could faintly hear Dean's frantic searching. He wanted nothing more than to be able to go up there, find Dean, tell him that he’s safe, and hold him. Gabriel laughed.

"Do you hear that? Dean's found my note." He grinned. Cas scowled at his older brother but remained silent. "I'm going to go speak to my brother-in-law. Stay here," Gabriel added, as though Castiel could do anything other than that. He unlocked the door and headed up the stairs. Cas glared after him, wondering what on Earth had happened to his older brother.

 

*

 

"CAS!" Dean yelled again. His throat was getting sore from shouting but he wasn’t going to stop until Cas was safe with him.

"Oh, cut that out. Your husband's fine." Gabriel rolled his eyes walking into the room. Dean span round and aimed the gun at Gabriel's face.

"TAKE ME TO HIM NOW." He roared, wrath and fear getting the better of him.

Gabriel sighed. "Oh, Dean... Do you think that that's going to work?"

"Worth a shot." He spat, putting his finger on the trigger. Gabriel shook his head in disappointment and clicked his fingers.

"Cas!" Dean cried and grabbed hold of the man that had just appeared next to him in relief. Cas clutched back at Dean, happily.

Gabriel laughed. "That's not the real Castiel.” Dean and Cas froze. Turning to stare at Gabriel they both looked to be at a loss. “He's still downstairs. This is just a... Duplicate. Same emotions, same memories just tied to the real Cas downstairs. And here's new Sammy." Gabriel clicked his fingers again and Sam stumbled forwards, almost crashing into Dean and Cas. "You can have the real Bobby though. I don't mind that. He's not important."

"What do you mean we can 'have the real Bobby'? We're not going anywhere till I have the _real_ Cas and my real _brother_." Dean yelled.

"Actually you are." Gabriel said, clicking his fingers. Then everything fell apart in front of their eyes.

 

*

 

The four men woke up back in the motel, stretched out on the floor uncomfortably. A piece of card was propped against a vase of flowers on the table. Dean picked himself up, stiffly, and made his way over. He scooped up the piece of card and flipped it over.

"So, I have Sam and Cas," Dean read aloud. "You can only have one of them back. When you have decided, come back to the house and let me know. The duplicates will disappear and you will be able to leave with either Sam or Cas. Your choice." Dean collapsed into a chair, dropping the note on the floor, and put his head in his hands. The Cas that supposedly wasn’t Cas walked over and pulled up a chair next to Dean and put his arms around him.

"It's okay Dean. It's okay." He whispered softly. "It's all going to be okay." Sam look at Bobby helplessly as Dean began to cry. "It's all okay Dean." Cas continued to whisper soothingly. "It's all okay..."

"How is any of this 'okay'?" Dean asked, his voice muffled slightly by his tears. "I have to choose between my husband and my brother. What kind of sick son of a bitch makes someone _do_ that?"

Castiel shook his head silently. He was speechless. The idea that his brother could do this was beyond belief. Yet here they were.

"I'll stay." Sam said quietly. Dean looked up, his tear-stained face hard.

"What?" He asked, incredulously.

"I'll stay." Sam repeated. "You need Cas more than you need me. I'll stay."

"You- You can't-." Dean stuttered.

"Would you rather it was Cas?" Sam interrupted softly. His expression was soft and caring.

Dean couldn’t form the words he was trying to say. His jaw trembled before he finally shouted the words, "I can't leave either of you!"

"Dean you know you'd rather leave me than Cas. We all know." Sam said, still talking quietly. He seemed to be completely in control of himself, the opposite of how Dean was feeling.

"You can't just sacrifice yourself!" Dean cried.

"Dean, that's the point,” Sam reminded him, “It's a sacrifice. Like Gabe said."

The conversation went in a similar fashion for a long time, somewhere along the way Sam started shouting and Bobby joined in. Only Cas stayed silent.

 

*

 

Gabriel peered through the window of the scruffy motel. He laughed at the sight the Winchesters and Bobby. His brother was sat watching Dean shout at Sam, and Bobby was trying to get Dean to shut up by waving his arms around and yelling a lot. From the archangels point of view it was a funny scene. Gabriel heard a noise behind him and glanced away from the four men; it was only a cat. He looked back in through the window and noticed that Castiel was staring straight at him. Cas stood up and said something inaudible to the others. They barely acknowledged him. He exited the room through the door that led to the hall.

A moment late a voice sounded from behind Gabriel, "What are you doing, Gabriel?" Cas asked, his voice tainted with a sombre sadness.

"Enjoying my work." Gabe sang smugly.

Cas looked at his brother in a way that was verging on pitying, and Gabriel didn’t like that. Before he could say anything in indignation, Cas spoke again, "Why do you always have to mess with my life?" Cas sighed.

That gave Gabriel reason to pause, "What do you mean?" Gabriel asked, puzzled.

Cas’ face took on the expression of complete incredulity, "You always have to ruin everything, Gabriel. Take me. Let's go right now. Let Dean and the others leave."

"No." Gabriel said, flatly. "I need a group decision. Besides, how do you think your darling Dean would feel knowing you handed yourself over?

"It doesn't matter." Cas said, defiantly, bravely. "I don't want Dean to have to choose so I'm making that choice for him."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow as though that wasn’t an answer he was expecting, "Is that so?"

"Yes... I don't want to leave Dean.” The angle admitted, “It's actually the last thing I want to do ever. But at least this way he won't have to live with the pain of having chosen between me and his brother," Castiel said sadly. "I don't want to leave Dean. Ever... but I don't have a choice. Please."

"You're willing to sacrifice yourself for that boy?" Gabriel asked disbelievingly. Cas opened his mouth to answer but Gabriel just carried on. "Have you forgotten who you _are,_ Castiel? You are an _angel of the Lord_! You were created to do God's will not to follow a human around like a _dog_!"

"You have no right to talk about doing God's will, _Gabriel_." Cas replied venomously, spitting Gabriel's name at him. Gabriel flinched away but his face remained angry.

"I left for a reason. I wasn't defying God." He shouted. "As a child of the Lord you have a role to play. Lucifer has a role. I have a role. Zachariah had a role. Even little Anna does. You gotta play those roles through. Everyone does! Maybe my role is bigger than just staying in Heaven and following Dad's plans to the letter. I said this to Sam and Dean about being vessels. That was their role. They messed it up and look what happened."

"Well then my role is to protect Dean." Cas said.

"You're too obsessed with that boy." Gabriel snarled.

"I _love_ him!" Cas shouted at Gabriel.

"Dean is going to _die_!" Gabriel shouted back, heading straight for Cas’ weak spot. "He's a human hunter! It's what they do! He's going to die and you're going to be alone. It doesn't matter if he dies of old age or if he's killed by a demon; Dean will die." He spat. Cas flinched away from his older brother. "I'm sorry Cas. I really am. But it's how it works. You married a human."

"Don't tell me you're sorry, because you're not. You know _nothing_ about me and Dean. I'm not going with you now. Not now; not ever. Me and Dean will find a way through this." Cas turned on his heel and marched back towards the door. As he put his hand against it to push it open he turned and looked back at Gabriel. "You better stay out of our way, Gabriel. Or we'll kill you. See if that gets us out of here." Cas pushed the door open and walked away from his older brother.

 

*

 

Cas hurried down the corridor of the motel to their room, blinking back tears, barely looking where he was going. Which is probably why he ran headfirst into someone. A six foot someone.

"D- Dean." Cas gasped, lifting a hand and hurriedly wiping his face trying to cover up his tears.

"Cas? What's up?" Dean asked, worriedly grabbing hold of Cas' shoulder, not fooled for a second. "Cas, talk to me."

Cas let out a strangled sob. "I- I was just talking to Gabriel."

"And?" Dean asked urgently but kindly.

"I told him to stay away or we'd kill him." Cas whispered. "He said- He said that I had a role."

"Huh, he likes that speech doesn't he." Dean said without humour. "Well, it's late. Why don't we go back to the room and get some sleep. Well, I'll sleep. You can do whatever. Just, no talking to Gabriel and no thinking about Gabriel. We'll talk about it tomorrow. We'll work this out." Dean said optimistically. Cas smiled up at his hunter and nodded. He knew that Dean was most likely just saying that to make him feel better but it worked. He leant into Dean and let himself be guided back to the room.

"Okay." He whispered.

 

*

 

As it turns out, Sam wasn’t keen on the idea of letting them sleep, "Tell us again Cas. What did he say _exactly_?" Sam asked again, tiredly rubbing sleep out of his eyes. The lack of sleep was getting to him but he remained determined.

"He said I had a role to play," Cas said again, sighing.

Sam shut his eyes. "And do you know what that role is or could possibly be?" He asked.

Cas shook his head. "No."

Sam sighed and dropped his head onto his arms. "We're never going to get out of here..." He moaned.

Dean and Cas sighed at the same time and then caught each other’s eyes and grinned.

"This isn't a laughing matter!" Sam burst out at them, looking up and catching sight of them. "We're stuck here because of your dick of a brother, and there doesn't seem to be a way out!"

Dean raised his hands defensively. "Hey, calm down Sammy. We'll get out of here somehow."

Sam shoved his chair away from the table and stalked off to the bathroom. Dean sighed and lent into Cas in the chair they were sharing.

Bobby got up from his chair. "I'm going to the bar. Get some beer," He mumbled, leaving the room.

 

*

 

In the bathroom Sam turned on the taps and leaned against the wall. He turned back to the sink and splashed some water on his face. He glanced up at his reflection in the mirror and his heart jumped. He span round, ready to start punching the crap out of the archangel behind him, and suddenly Gabriel was kissing him. Gabriel's lips pressed firmly against Sam's. And all at once, Sam was kissing him back... and once they had started, it was hard to stop. Sam lifted his hand and twisted it into Gabriel's hair and Gabriel tightened his arms around Sam. The archangel pushed the hunter up against the bathroom wall and pressed against him, moaning quietly.

Sam pulled away slightly almost coming to his senses. Almost. "Gabe- what?" He whispered.

"I don't know," Gabriel murmured. "I just- had to. It’s been so long."

Sam sniggered, "Our brothers are in the other room."

Gabriel laughed, "And?" He whispered.

"And… That's awkward." He told Gabriel.

"Well, how many times do you think they-."

"Stop right there," Sam laughed.

"If you really feel that way…" Gabriel lifted his hand up to Sam's head and tapped it gently.

The room shifted around them and Sam felt an odd falling feeling in his stomach before everything came into focus.

Sam glanced around the new room and was slightly creeped out by how identical it was to the Winchester’s own motel room, "Where... Where are we?" He asked.

Gabriel winked. "In a room not too far away from our brothers.... But far away enough."

Sam burst out laughing, loudly, before pulling Gabriel back towards him and kissing him again, desperate to be close to the angel again.

 

*

 

Cas and Dean were sat in a chair, arms wrapped around each other. Foreheads pressed together. They stared into each other’s eyes. Blue meeting the green. Cas couldn't imagine being happier, even with everything that was going on with Gabriel and this town. Dean grinned as Cas pressed his lips to his. Dean raised his hand and ran it through Cas' hair, loving the soft touch of it. Cas giggled. Dean smiled in response, kissing him again. Cas sighed happily, "I'll never leave you Dean."

"I won't ever leave you either, Cas," Dean murmured. "I love you."

"I love you too," Cas said smiling.

 

*

 

Bobby threw some coins down on the counter, grunting at the man behind the bar. He ordered four bottles of beer and sat down on a stool. The man placed the bottles on the counter and scooped up the coins, counting them into the till. Bobby could see the barman’s lips moving minutely as he counted up the money. Bobby stood up stiffly and grumbled. He grabbed the bottles and headed back to the room. Knocking on the door, just in case, he let himself in.

Cas and Dean were curled up cutely in a chair and Sam was nowhere around. Bobby threw the bottles onto the bed and stretched out, shutting his eyes and drifting off. He could hear Cas and Dean kissing and whispering to each other and the old guy smiled to himself, happy for his boys. Glad that they had found what every person on this Godforsaken planet is looking for. His mind wandered to the times when he was happily married and in love. He focused on the joyful times rather than the ending and he slowly drifted off, smiling. Maybe everything could be happy for a while, even here.

Somewhere along the line, all three went to sleep.

 

*

 

Sam collapsed on his back, panting. Sweat glistened on his skin and his hair was sticking out at unusual angles, but Gabriel noted that it still somehow looked flawless. Gabriel grinned and rolled over onto his back beside Sam.

"We haven’t done that in a while," Sam observed. “That was interesting.”

"Interesting?" Gabriel made his voice sound light-hearted yet a little offended.

"Good. It was good." Sam confirmed, laughing. Gabriel grinned back at him. "Gabe? Can't you just let us-."

"No." Gabriel interrupted flatly, the laughing mood gone.

"Well, what if I just stay? Like, we go right now?" Sam said.

"Sorry Sam, Castiel already tried that one. I need a group decision."

Sam sighed. "Why?" He complained.

"Because I need to," Gabriel sighed. "Can't you just go with it? It will all make sense later. I need Dean to decide." He rolled over and kissed Sam. Sam relaxed and kissed him back despite all the warning bells going off inside his head.

"Okay. I really should get back to the others now though," Sam mumbled.

Gabriel complained and tried to stop Sam from getting up half-heartedly. It was obviously only half-hearted because the pair both knew that if he wanted to, Gabriel could stop Sam from moving with just a click of his fingers. Sam wandered around the motel room gathering up his clothes from where they lay, abandoned, and pulled them on haphazardly. Gabriel propped himself up on his arm, watching Sam. Sam looked across at him from the other side of the room and laughed. "I'm going to go back to the other room. Is it..?" He pointed out the door. Gabriel nodded.

"Wait." Sam said. "I'm a duplicate right?"

"Yeah, but if  you choose...” He broke off, unsure of how to finish that sentence, “The real you will get your duplicates memories when I delete the duplicate. Don't worry." He winked before disappearing and reappearing next to Sam fully clothed. He kissed the hunter lightly before disappearing again. Sam pulled the door open and walked back to the other room, shaking his head, almost fondly.

 

*

 

"Where the hell have you been?" Dean demanded, marching across to him, as soon as Sam walked through the door.

"Out." Sam said, smoothing his hair down self-consciously.

"How did you get out of the bathroom?" Cas asked from the bed, puzzled. Sam looked away, trying not to blush.

"I- I just walked through. You guys were... A little busy..." Sam trailed off, hoping, praying, that the lie would be a good enough one.

Dean narrowed his eyes in disbelief. He glanced at Cas who shook his head slightly. Dean shrugged. "Oh, right." He said. Sam walked across to a chair and threw himself down, legs sprawling out in front of him. He was exhausted due to the fact that he still hadn’t slept.

"Are we going out for breakfast? Where's Bobby?" He asked, aiming for a nonchalant attitude.

"He went out this morning. Dunno where." Dean grunted. "And yeah sure. Why don't you go down and we'll meet you down there?" He wanted to talk to Cas about what had just happened. Something was up and he was positive that Cas knew what.

"Yeah, alright," Sam got up and left again, breathing a sigh of relief to be away.

"Gabriel?" Dean asked Cas as soon as Sam had left.

"Gabriel." Cas confirmed and he looked very concerned.

This wasn’t good.

 

*

 

“Gabriel you get your feathery ass down here now," Dean yelled at the sky.

Three hours later, Dean, Cas, Sam and Bobby were all fed and watered, and Cas and Dean had slipped away out the back of the motel for a quick ‘what the Hell are you doing’ talk with Gabriel.

"No matter how difficult the situation there is no need to shout."

Dean span round and cursed. Cas stepped closer to Dean. "What have you been doing with my brother?" Dean yelled at the archangel his face contorted with anger.

Gabriel laughed and bit his lip, "Oh wow. How much you _don’t_ want to know," He winked at the two of them. Dean pulled a disgusted face. "Oh, give over Dean. Who are you to judge?" Gabriel said with a pointed look at Cas. Cas flushed a deep scarlet colour.

"Oi. Back off Gabriel," Dean spat. Gabriel took a half-step back acting intimidated. Truth be told he kind of was.

"Hey, chill," He said, "Look, I like your brother. A lot more than I like you. We were just hanging out and... other things..." Dean started towards Gabriel, balling his fists. Cas stepped forward and grabbed hold of Dean's arm.

"Dean. Stop," He said quietly. Dean looked at Cas, taking in the peaceful expression, and stepped away from Gabriel.

"That's a good boy," Gabriel said snidely. Cas and Dean glared at him but made no move to threaten him.

"Go to Hell," Dean growled.

Gabriel grinned at him smugly. “That’s more your area of expertise, isn’t it?”

Dean blinked in shock. “Have a nice day, Gabriel,” He turned on his heel and started to walk away, his insides turning to molten lead, burning their way through him viciously.

"Hey, hey no, come back." Gabriel called after him. "Look, I'm sorry, come back."

Dean continued walking.

"Oh come on..." Gabriel pleaded, “It was a joke…”

 Dean turned and looked at him. "Once chance." He said, blankly.

"Okay." Gabriel acknowledged. He promised to try and behave.

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Go on then." He prompted. "What's going on?"

"Well, I banged your brother for one," The archangel grinned, "And I'm going to let you go. I just think this is good for you. When you wake up tomorrow you'll be able to drive away," He promised.

"Well, we definitely didn't need to know that first bit," Dean groaned, feeling sick to his stomach. "But that second bit I like the sound of. But... Can't you just let us go now?"

Gabriel laughed. "No way. But tomorrow? Yes."

Dean sighed, "Fine. Goodbye Gabriel." He turned and walk off again, Cas trailing behind him.

“Something’s not right,” Cas breathed to Dean as they walked away.

Gabriel laughed quietly to himself. This was starting to get fun.

 

*

 

“Rise and shine Sammy!" Dean said cheerfully. "It's leaving day!" He grinned. Sam sat up, sleepily rubbing his eyes and pushing his long shaggy hair out of his face. He rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom, feet treading weightily on the ground.

Cas was stood near the door watching them and Dean was packing his bags. Bobby was sat drinking a bottle of beer on the end of his bed, too fed up with the weekend to move.

"Well, if Gabriel keeps his promise..." Dean finished quietly, after Sam had left the room.

"He will." Cas said solemnly. It was more to reassure himself – he had to have some faith in his brother, at least for once – than an actual promise.

"He better." Bobby said gruffly from his bed.

 

*

 

"Well, here goes nothing." Dean said, revving the engine of the Impala. He pressed down on the peddle and cautiously drove across the border of the town.

"SON OF A BITCH," Dean yelled. The four of them were stood in the house where Gabriel had caught them. Gabriel clapped slowly, wandering towards them. He stopped when they glared at him and he put on an expression of indignation and offence.

"Oh, come on," He said spreading his hands out in front of him. "You didn't expect me to just let you go? Did you forget all about the whole duplicate thing?"

Dean and Cas glanced at each other and nodded carefully. Cas walked towards Gabriel slowly and deliberately. Confusion flashed across Gabriel's face as Cas reached into his coat and, fast as lighting, withdrew his angel blade and threw it at Gabriel's head. Gabriel ducked and the second he did Cas shot across the floor, skidding on his knees and knocked Gabriel's legs out from under him, causing him to topple. At the exact same moment Dean whipped out a second angel blade and ran to Gabriel, grabbed him just before he hit the floor, and held the blade up to Gabriel's throat. All of this happened in less than three seconds and Sam and Bobby stood there, open-mouthed, in shock.

"Where did you get that?" Gabriel hissed at Dean. If looks could kill, Dean thought bitterly.

"One time a friend of mine killed a lot of angels. That left a lot of spare angel blades." Dean growled. Cas flinched slightly at the mention of his time playing God. Cas and Dean stood up, dragging Gabriel up too, keeping the blade at his throat.

"We'd like to leave now Gabriel. It would be good if you would co-operate." Dean said, smiling down at the archangel. "And we will kill you. Do not try us."

"No, you're not leaving. And do you know why? Because I have the real Castiel." Gabriel said smoothly. "And if you kill me... Both Sam and Cas die."

"You're bluffing." Sam said instantly.

"Are you prepared to risk it?" Gabriel questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Now, I suggest you remove that blade from my throat and step away."

"Not going to happen, Gabriel." Dean snarled.

Gabriel smiled. "So be it." He lifted his hand and clicked his fingers. Familiar shout and screams echoed through the house. Dean looked at Sam and Cas, horrified.

"STOP! STOP IT!" Dean yelled dropping the angel blade and stepping away. He couldn’t bear it. Gabriel grinned. He clicked his fingers and the voices faded away. "Where are they?" Dean asked quietly; his voice shook.

"In the house." Gabriel answered evasively.

"Take me to them." Dean ordered.

"Which one first?" Gabriel smirked.

"Cas." Dean decided, avoiding the others eyes. Gabriel looked perplexed for a second but quickly replaced it with a smile.

"Right this way." He directed.

 

*

 

"DEAN!" Cas yelled joyfully starting towards him automatically, forgetting about the fire.

"CAS, STOP!" Dean shouted. Cas stopped and looked down at the fire. He looked back up at Dean. He was still grinning even though he wasn't free. Dean couldn't help but smile back at his angel. Battered and bruised as Cas was he looked so happy. Happy to see Dean. "Hey Cas," Dean said. "Missed me?"

Cas laughed. "Yes. You?" He grinned.

"Nah." Dean teased, winking. Dean turned to watch Gabriel walk in, followed by Bobby. And then Sam and Cas. Dean looked back at Cas who looked shocked.

"Dean- What- What's going on?" Cas gasped. "How?" His eyes were wide and fixed on his duplicate. "I- I don't- Gabe did you do that? How?" There was a hint of awe in his eyes as he regarded his elder brother.

Gabriel looked slightly sad, "I miss that," He admitted. "You looking up to me, impressed by me." Cas looked away, eyes going back to his duplicate.

"Wait," Cas said. "Are those the real?" He said, glancing at Gabriel and gesturing at the other three.

Gabriel smiled. "Bobby and your precious Dean are but I've got the real Sammy kept somewhere else. Anyway, we're wasting time here. I've got something to tell you all. We're going to play a little game." He announced.

"Another?" Dean half-shouted. He felt genuinely ill. They were never going to get this sadistic sad sack to leave them alone.

"Yes. Another,” Gabriel revealed, “This one's better though. I'm quite proud of it to be honest." Gabriel said, smugly. "The reason I brought you all here was to test something out. I wanted to know, _Dean_ , whether you loved my little brother or not."

 

*

 

It was ridiculous. In fact, it was beyond ridiculous. It was absurd. It was incongruous. It was ludicrous. It was every other goddamn synonym for completely fucking insane that Dean could think of in that moment. "What?” He exclaimed, “Of _course_ I love Cas! That's why I _married_ him!" Dean yelled. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

"Oh, because every marriage is about love nowadays," Gabriel scoffed. "Anyway, here's your chance to prove it. You've got to find your way out alive. Only one of the Castiel's will be allowed to leave. Can you tell the difference between a fake and the real?"

Dean frowned there was an obvious flaw in this. "But... We know which Cas is which."

Gabriel laughed, once. "Not for long." He said. Dean glanced at the real Cas, puzzled. Gabriel clapped his hands and the holy fire went out. Cas ran across the room to Dean and they embraced, tight.

"I love you." Dean whispered, realising that he might never get to say it again with the way this was looking.

"Oh, and one last thing, you can have Sammy. I don't care about him." Gabriel said simply.

They turned to face Gabriel as he clapped a second time and they all collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

 

*

 

Dean groaned as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Cas sat in a chair opposite him, still unconscious. The second thing he saw was another Cas. Also unconscious. He frowned. He looked around the room. They were sat in chairs in a circle in the basement where Cas had been kept. Two Cas', Sam, Bobby and himself.

"Bobby. Bobby!" Dean called. "Wake up!" Dean wriggled his hands, trying to escape his bonds. He struggled for half a minute before he was free. He got up and went round the circle untying everyone. They were all out cold. Dean stood staring down at the two Castiel's. If only there was some way of knowing which was which before he woke them. Sighing he sat down in between their chairs and waited for them to wake up.

A few hours later and Dean had fallen asleep while waiting. He was leaning against one of the Cas’ leg, his hand resting on it.

"Hello, Dean." That Cas said, nudging Dean awake.

Dean woke immediately and jumped up, clutching at Cas, "Cas? Cas! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Dean, I'm fine. Dean! Calm down! I'm okay." Cas laughed at Dean, reassuring him. "Calm down."

"Wait, so are you the real or the duplicate?" Dean asked, curious if he knew.

"The real as far as I'm aware but I'm getting the feeling that this Cas will think he is the real one too..." Cas admitted.

"Awesome." Dean said, not at _all_ bitter.

 

*

 

Shortly later everyone was awake and they were sat in a circle in silence. Dean kept looking between the two Castiel’s, hoping to spot a difference.

"Dean. They're identical." Sam said tiredly rubbing his eyes, something was clearly bothering him. He was being very short with Dean, his voice restrained but vaguely hostile. "Give up with the staring."

"No, there has to be some way of knowing," Dean maintained.

Cas, well the first one to wake up, had been right. Both of the Castiel’s believed that they were the real one.

"Dean-." Sam started.

"No. Just no, Sam. There must be a way." He interrupted. "There has to be a way." He repeated, more to himself than to the others. No one spoke for another ten minutes.

"Okay." Dean said, breaking the silence. "Sam and Bobby, you need to go. Just leave. Gabriel can't stop you from doing that."

"No.” Sam said, inevitably, “No way. We're not leaving you here."

Bobby sighed. "You're a damn idjit, boy. Why did you have to mess with the angels."

Dean and both Castiels looked at Bobby in shock.

The First Castiel to wake up spoke first. "You call falling in love, 'messing with the angels'?" He queried, looking at Bobby in confusion. "Because I don't. You don't choose who you fall in love with. Do you think I planned on being in love with a human hunter with abandonment issues?"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Dean interrupted.

Cas smirked at him before continuing. "Because I didn't. But it happened. And you know what? I don't regret it. Not for a second," Cas said. "I love him. Oh, and he didn't 'mess with me'. He just loved me back."

Bobby blinked, "Well, I still think you're a fool but fine. If your love can get us into this I sure as Hell hope it can get us out."

"I do not have abandonment issues." Dean grumbled. Cas winked at him. The Second Cas watched them, confused. He didn't understand. If he was the real Cas then how did the other one know exactly how he felt, exactly what he was going to say to Bobby, exactly how he acted around Dean. It didn't make sense. He looked round and noticed Sam staring right at him. He raised his eyebrows at Sam. Sam shook his head, looking away.

"Got something to say, Sammy?" Dean asked, having seen the whole thing.

"No." Sam said, quickly.

"If you've got something to say Sam, then now would be most helpful." The First Cas said.

"How do we know there is a way to tell?” Sam burst out. “How can we possibly tell the difference between two guys that both have the exact same thoughts, memories and feelings?"

Dean sighed. "I'm not sure we can," He spoke softly.

"Then why-."

"Why am I trying?" Dean interrupted Sam. "Because I have to! I can't just walk out of here. I have to take one Cas with me." Dean got up and stormed off to the other side of the room, sick of it all.

 

*

 

Eventually the Second Cas got up and walked over to Dean. He put his arms around Dean’s waist and didn't say anything. Dean put his head down on Cas' shoulder and Cas rested his head on top.

"It's okay. It's okay." Cas said over and over in a kind of hushed chant. "I'm here. It's okay. It's okay."

Sam laughed humourlessly. "That's great. Especially considering you might not be real." Dean threw a dirty look at his brother. Sam raised his eyebrows. "Well, we were all thinking it." He said darkly.

"Okay that's it. What is _up_ with you, Sam?" Dean spat. "Ever since we got here you've been off."

"Maybe it's something to do with that fact that you got us stuck in this mess?" Sam snarled back.

"Or maybe, this is about Gabriel." Dean sneered nastily.

Sam flinched and narrowed his eyes. "What do you know about that?" He hissed.

" _Everything_." Dean replied.

"Liar. You don't know anything." Sam said quickly.

"I know everything, Sam. _Everything_. And _God_ , I wish I didn't." Dean said looking away from Sam.

Sam flushed. "You little hypocrite," He spat at Dean.

"At least my angel is good." Dean retorted. "You chose the bad guy. Besides, didn't you hear? He doesn't care about you."

"Shut up. _Shut up_!" Sam yelled. "Gabriel _isn't_ the bad guy! At least, he wasn't always!" Sam protested.

"Yeah, but he was by the time you-."

"Shut up, Dean." Bobby interrupted. Dean looked at Bobby, hurt, but Bobby wasn't looking at Dean; he was looking at Sam. Dean glanced back at Sam and he realised that Sam was hastily trying to cover up the tears in his eyes.

"Sam..." Dean began, in a softer voice, tired.

"Just leave me alone, Dean." Sam said turning his back on him.

 

*

 

"Dean, you are being too harsh on him." The First Cas said. Sam had left the basement and gone upstairs for a bit.

"Too harsh?" Dean repeated, making the phrase sound stupid. "How is this too harsh?"

The two Castiels shared a look, fighting the temptation to roll their eyes. "Can't you see it Dean?” The Second Cas asked, “Sam loves Gabriel. And hearing Gabriel say _'I don't care about him_ ' will have hurt."

Dean mocked, "How can he love him? They don't know each other and Gabriel's a dick."

"Oh, come on. We all know how long it took with us." The First Cas replied, rolling his eyes. "What was it? A _day_?"

Dean made an odd noise, trying desperately not to laugh. "That's different. You're nice." He protested.

"Oh, come on. I was a complete douche at the start." The Second Cas said, grinning.

"You pulled my ass out of Hell?" Dean volunteered hopefully.

"Only because I was told to." The Second Cas said. "And I didn't even manage that on time. So that has nothing to do with anything Dean."

"Ah whatever." Dean shrugged. "Sam can't love Gabriel."

"Oh, right yeah, I forgot. You're in charge of who can love who, aren't you." Bobby inserted from his chair.

"Shut up Bobby." Dean said. Bobby shrugged, closed his eyes and leant back in his chair, rocking on the back two legs.

"Bobby has a point Dean." The Second Cas pointed out softly. "Sam does care about my brother. Sometimes, when you care about someone so much, you overlook the bad so you only see the good. And, contrary to your belief, my brother isn't evil. He may be irritating but he's not evil."

"He's risking your life Cas! To see whether I love you or not! Who does that?" Dean burst out.

"Someone who has lost a lot, and doesn't want their brother to," The First Cas said. "He's just worried you'll leave me."

"How could he even _think_ that after _everything_ you and I have _been_ through?" Dean cried. Dean sighed. "How is it you know him so much better than I? You used to have no concept of feelings."

"He's my brother. I know him well," First Cas said, smiling sadly. “Besides, all things considered, we don’t actually know how long this has been going on for.”

They all fell into silence as Dean thought about that.

 

*

 

First Cas slid the silver blade through the skin on his arm and passed it across to Second Cas. He performed the same move as First Cas. "So," Dean mused. "Both can touch silver." That was not helpful. He reached into his pocket and threw some salt in both of their faces. They glared at him but neither was affected by it in any way. Bobby came stomping down the stairs carrying two buckets of water. He dropped a cross into each and chanted over them before dumping the entire contents of each bucket over each of their heads. They spat water out of their mouths and wiped their eyes but no screams of pain were heard and neither burnt. Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ugh, God, I can't think of anything else. _Christo_?" He tried randomly, flailing his arms a bit.

Second Cas laughed at him. "You're really clutching at straws there, Dean." He grinned.

"Yeah? Well, straws are all I have left." Dean replied drily. Bobby stomped back off upstairs claiming he was going to find Sam.

First Cas crossed his arms and inspected Dean. "Dean, what are you hoping to achieve?"

"Besides walking away with you alive and safe?" Dean replied, stating what he thought was obvious.

Second Cas smirked. First Cas threw the other a look that clearly said 'shut up'. Cas winked back. Dean shook his head at the weirdness of that situation.

"Yes, Dean, apart from my safety."

"Nothing. Cas, all I want is your safety." Dean said looking directly into his eyes.

Cas gulped and let out a rush of air. "Dean, that may not be possible. If you can't pick one of us then you might just have to leave without either of us."

"Why do you have to be such a self-righteous asshole?" Dean groaned.

"What? And you're not?" Second Cas chimed in.

"Only when I feel like it," Dean said looking at the two of them. "Only when it saves people. When it saves _you_."

"Well right now _I'm_ trying to save _you_." First Cas said.

"The only way to save me is to get out of here and we can only do that if we pick one of you two. So you can either help me work it out or I'll work it out on my own." Dean informed them, stubbornly.

"You know I'll always help, Dean." The reply came from both of them at the same time and Dean almost thought his heart would break.

 

*

 

Dean stepped over the threshold of the house, out into the street beyond. He turned slowly round looking for Gabriel. There wasn't a soul in sight. Dean looked behind him where the two Cas' were stood just inside the doorway of the house. Sam and Bobby had vanished.

"Well, well, well... Look who ventured outside." Gabriel smiled, appearing in the middle of the street. "Made up your mind then?" Dean stepped back a half step, back pressed to the door frame. Second Cas reached out and put his hand lightly on Deans shoulder, reassuring him that it was okay.

"Yes." Dean said firmly.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "And what is that choice? Remember, guess wrong and both die." Dean put his hand on top of second Cas' and Cas stepped out of the door. Dean and Cas stood holding hands, facing Gabriel. The other Cas remained where he was, face blank. Gabriel smiled. "You know, I really didn't think you could do it. I'm impressed. I guess you're free to go."

Dean turned and looked at the other Cas for the last time, his hand reached out to touch him as Gabriel clicked his fingers and they landed back in the scruffy motel room.

 

*

 

"Rise and shine Sammy!" Dean said cheerfully. "It's leaving day!" He grinned. Sam sat up, sleepily rubbing his eyes and pushing his hair out of his face. He rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Cas was stood near the door and Dean was packing his bags. Bobby was sat drinking a bottle of beer on the end of his bed.

"Well, if Gabriel keeps his promise..." Dean finished quietly, after Sam had left the room.

"He will." Cas said solemnly.

"He better." Bobby said gruffly from his bed.

 

*

 

"Well, here goes nothing." Dean said, revving the engine of the Impala. He pressed down on the peddle and cautiously drove across the border of the town.

The car erupted in cheers. Well, except Sam. But they had gotten out. What did Dean care about Sam's sadness?

"We're- we're out for definite?" Dean asked nervously.

"I guess so." Sam conceded.

"What did you think? That I'd _lie_ to you?"

"Ah- Jesus Christ Gabe! Don't do that!" Sam yelled at the archangel who was now squeezed in beside him in the back seat. Gabriel winked at him, grinning. Sam laughed, instantaneously perking up. Sam seemed to have forgotten all about what had happened earlier, or perhaps Sam and Gabriel had had a little ‘meeting’ last night while the other’s slept. It was highly likely and made Dean shudder inwardly.

"Well? Did you?" Gabriel asked.

"We've learnt that trusting _you_ leads to lies and disaster more often than not." Dean grunted from the front.

Gabriel looked offended. "Hey now, that's not fair!" He protested. "I help you out _sometimes_."

Dean laughed, humourlessly. "Sure." He said. "Then what was everything that just happened? You are lucky to be _alive,_ angel."

Gabriel shrugged. "Hey, I helped you out that time with the vampires!" He announced abruptly as though just remembering.

"What time with the vampires?" Bobby asked, interested despite himself.

"You know... In Ohio? I got rid of them for you."

"We've never hunted vampires in Ohio..." Dean said slowly.

" _Exactly_." Gabriel said with a wink. Sam burst out laughing.

"What?" He defended himself when Dean glared at him. Dean flicked his eyes back to the road, driving a little faster. Cas was sat in the passenger seat in the front, determinedly not looking at Gabriel and Bobby was looking out of the window away from Sam and Gabriel. "Okay guys. What's up?" Sam asked. "You're treating me like... I don't know...” He trailed off.

Bobby shrugged and Cas stayed silent. "Dean?" Sam asked. Gabriel sniggered. Dean flexed his neck to the side. "Oh, wait, don't tell me." Sam said, flatly. "You have a problem with me and Gabriel."

Dean stared at the road pointedly. "Well, good to know that my brother has some ridiculous double standards." Sam said, looking out the window. Gabriel reached out and took Sam's hand, cautiously. The contact comforted Sam and he glanced at Gabe quickly, drawing a little strength and reassurance from him.

Cas looked round at Dean and caught his eye purposefully. He raised his eyebrows at Dean, who sighed loudly.

"It's not that. It's- uh- did it have to be _Gabriel_?" He asked dubiously.

"Right here." Gabriel commented lazily from the back seat.

"What do you mean _'did it have to be Gabriel'_?" Sam asked indignantly.

"Well, he's kind of a douche that just spent the last few days threatening Cas', and _your_ , life." Dean said quickly.

"Again, _right here_." Gabriel interjected. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Dean. He's a good guy." Sam said. Then he glanced at Gabe. "Well, partially." He added, grinning.

"You got anything to say on the subject, little brother?" Gabriel asked.

Cas glanced at Dean. "I- Um, I understand Dean's point of view..." He began, falteringly. Dean smiled slightly. "But, I can't really have a problem with it, everything considered." He finished. Dean sighed.

"Fine...” Dean groaned, still keeping his eyes on the road.

"Idjits." Bobby muttered from the back seat. Sam smirked.

"Oh, and did you _really_ think that I would kill Cas?" Gabriel asked.

" _What_?" Dean said.

"Oh come on! He's my little brother! I wouldn't hurt him! Anyway, I meant to ask you. How _did_ you work it out?" Gabriel asked, interested.

"We didn't." Dean said, slowly.

"You _guessed_?"

"Yeah well, either we got it right or both of us died. Either way we'd be together." Cas said.

"Well at least I know now. If I ever need to threaten Dean... _Cas_ is who I should kidnap. Not Sammy." Gabriel turned to look at Sam. "I gotta go but I'll catch up with you soon." Sam nodded and kissed him quickly, trying in vain to ignore the way Dean tensed up at that.

"Bye." He said. Gabriel said goodbye too and then vanished.

Dean breathed out deeply. "Thank _God_." He said. Sam narrowed his eyes at the back of Dean’s head but didn’t say anything. For now, at least, he could cope with Dean being not exactly approving of his relationship. With everything that just happened, he figured that Dean could do with having it thrown his way a little easier.

That’s not to say he won’t bring it up later.

For now though, he’d let it be. God knows they need a little peace.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I made both Gabe and Dean into dicks a fair amount during this fic but I thought it worked with the story. Obviously, I actually adore both characters.  
> If you enjoyed this: [buy me a coffee?](http://ko-fi.com/A831F9U)


End file.
